TAKING MICHELIN'S NEWEST
SPORTBIKE TIRE FOR ASPIN
By PAUL CARRUTHERS
PHOTOS BY BRIAN J. NELSON
ound and black. To most people, a tire is
nothing more than that. Fill it with air,
change it when you see cords showing, and
otherwise don't give it another thought. But
'f you have a sportbike and fancy yourself as
a track-day hero or racer of any level, you know that a
tire is everything. If you're a MotoGP rider, you spend
more time thinking about tires than you do worrying
about Valentino Rossi.
With its new Power Race line of sportbike tires,
Michelin is doing its best to bring the two distinctly
different worlds of high-performance sportbiking and
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32 FEBRUARY 9,2005 • CYCLE NEWS
MotoGP together. With no other company coming close
to matching the success that Michelin has reached in GP
racing - most notably in the premier class, whether that
be 500cc GP or MotoGP - it's clear that Michelin and
Grand Prix road racing go hand in hand. A quick look at
the record books will show that Michelin has won 320
GPs in 500cc/MotoGP racing since 1976. The tire giant
has won 24 titles, and since 1992, no other tire manufacturer other than Michelin can claim a World
Championship in the premier class. This year, the
French company won 14 ofthe 16 MotoGP races, with
only Bridgestone making headway in the series with
